After
Aurangzeb, Moghul power rapidly diminished. The Marathas, after Shivaji, became
the predominant force. Rajput kingdoms preferred to support the enfeebled
Moghuls whom they could dominate rather than the fierce, plebian fighters from
the Western Ghats.

The British came to India as traders, but soon took sides in local struggles to
defend their trading rights. They also raised mercenary forces. Seeing the
struggle for power between the decaying Moghul empire, the Muslim rulers of the
southern states, the rising Marathas and the disunited Rajput kingdoms, the
British played one off against the other to their own advantage. They gradually
acquired control over large portions of Bengal and the south. They controlled
the Moghul emperor and signed treaties with the Rajputs. In 1857 came the first
attempt at a nationwide stand against the British. It was crushed and India
became part of the British Empire.